Giovanni Innocenzo Martinelli

Giovanni Innocenzo Martinelli OFM (5 February 1942 in El Khadra, Libya – 30 December 2019 in Saccolongo, Italy)[1] was an Italian Roman Catholic prelate.

During the civil war in Libya he made an appeal, unheeded by the western states, not to humiliate Gaddafi, but to seek dialogue with him.

In February 2015, during the Libyan crisis for the control of the provinces of Barqa and Tripoli by ISIS, Martinelli refused to leave the country and was the last Italian left in that territory.

He received death threats, but he declared to be ready for martyrdom if necessary and remained one of the last 300 Catholics in Libya.

Pope Francis accepted his renunciation and coadiutor Bishop George Bugeja, who was already in Tripoli before Martinelli's departure in 2015, took over.